It is not always an easy decision to walk away from a career and community that you spent so much time in. It takes courage and resilience. For Kathy Sparks, leaving the abortion industry was that life-transforming decision. On January 20-21, people from across the country will join to march for life. Kathy’s story serves as a reminder of how important it is to stand for the sanctity of life and against the pandemic of abortion.
Kathy Sparks, president and CEO of a thriving pregnancy care center, has spent 34 years helping more than 20,000 clients. But Kathy wasn’t always pro-life.
In college, she was immersed in the pro-abortion culture and eventually took a job as a medical assistant at an abortion clinic. She estimates that she helped kill some 700 babies. But after she attempted to take her own life, her mother-in-law introduced her to Jesus. And Kathy’s life was instantly transformed.
Three months later, her eyes were opened to the horrors of her profession when she was assisting with a late-term abortion. She still remembers the “perfectly formed” baby boy’s face. “I took his little body into the cleanup room and I just began weeping … sobbing over everything I was doing,” Kathy says. She quit her job at the clinic the next morning, never looking back.
Now she heads up Mosaic Pregnancy & Health Centers in Granite City, Illinois. The center transforms lives by providing free pregnancy and sexual health services, education, and Christ-centered support. But Mosaic has the misfortune—and the increasing challenge—of being an outstanding pregnancy care center in a state where politicians are pushing a particularly aggressive pro-abortion agenda.
Laws in the state of Illinois are very pro-abortion, so much so that in recent years, the state has rolled back most restrictions on abortion. Now, this even includes parental consent statutes. But when abortion activists in the state enacted a new law further threatening Kathy’s work, she was forced to continue her fight for life in court. The law in question requires all medical professionals to discuss abortion, and, if the pregnant mother expresses interest, they are required—by law—to provide her with a list of abortionist referrals.
“It’s a violation of and attack on our freedom of speech,” says Kathy. “We’d be mandated to provide the benefits from the abortion procedure. And there are no benefits to the abortion procedure. Abortion harms women. In essence, they’re going to mandate that we lie to our clients. And we would never do that.”
For the last five years, Kathy and Mosaic have been fighting back against this law and will continue to do so as the case inches its way through the judicial system.
Here is how you can pray:
Judicial
Pray that the judicial system would recognize and uphold the constitutional right to life and allow states to protect women and their unborn babies from the horrors of abortion.
Legislative
Pray that the state and federal legislatures would recognize the sanctity of life and enact laws that honor life.
Culture
Pray that people would follow in Kathy’s footsteps in leaving the pro-abortion culture and understand the unmatched value of life.
Church
Pray that the Church would uphold the biblical worldview of life and minister to women who have experienced abortion and are contemplating abortion.
What is a Generational Win?
Each generation has the responsibility to protect the freedoms of the next. That is why ADF focuses on generational wins. These victories change the law and culture of the nation and are sustained by deliberate action so that the victory endures for future generations.
- Life is safeguarded
- Religious Freedom prevails
- All can Speak Freely
- Marriage and Family are protected
- Parental Rights are guaranteed
Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania/South Jersey has teamed up with ADF Church Alliance so your church can become a member at a discounted rate. Visit www.adfchurchalliance.org/BRN to learn more and use promo code BRN250 when you apply.
